Thais call for new probe into Reuters TV cameraman's death

A statement by the Department of Special Investigation on Friday marked a dramatic reversal from February when the agency's chief concluded the Japanese journalist and others could not have been shot by soldiers.

Muramoto, 43, was killed by a high-velocity bullet wound to the chest while covering clashes between “red shirt” protesters and troops in Bangkok’s old quarter on 10 April 2010. He was among 25 people, including soldiers, who died that night. Mysterious gunmen clad in black were seen among the red-shirted protesters, firing at troops.

Witness accounts in a preliminary DSI investigation seen by Reuters in December said the fatal shot came from the direction of troops. A witness was quoted as saying he saw “a flash from a gun barrel of a soldier”, then watched Muramoto fall after he was shot in the chest while filming the security forces.

But on 27 February, DSI Director-General Tharit Pengdit issued a new statement that contradicted the preliminary report, saying the bullet came from an AK-47 assault rifle, which did not match weapons used by soldiers in the area that day.

The Bangkok Post reported that, before Tharit made the claim soldiers were not involved, the army chief of staff had paid him a visit “to complain about an initial department finding”. The DSI denied the report.

It was unclear what caused the DSI chief to change position again and assert soldiers may have played a role in civilian deaths – an extraordinarily sensitive issue in Thailand where the military is extremely powerful and deeply politicised.

“We want the court to be the one who investigates this so that the result can be accepted by all,” Tharit told Reuters. “The DSI has insisted from the beginning that we found soldiers may have been involved in the deaths.”

Tharit said his agency would send the cases of the 13 civilians killed to police on Monday. Police would then submit the findings to prosecutors, who would bring the cases to Thailand’s Criminal Court for a final investigation.

“We welcome this development and have always wanted to see this case fully investigated in a transparent manner. Muramoto-san’s family and Reuters colleagues deserve to know how this tragedy occurred and who was behind it,” Stephen Adler, editor-in-chief, said in a statement.

Muramoto was based in Tokyo and had gone to Bangkok to help cover the anti-government red shirt protests from March to mid-May last year. The DSI has identified the cases of Muramoto and 12 other civilians, killed over the course of the unrest, for its initial investigation. ■